Chickadee: Chapters 20–25

by Louise Erdrich
This fourth book of The Birchbark House series is set in 1866 around the Great Plains, where an eight-year-old Ojibwe boy is unhappy about being named after a bird, until he learns that small things can have great power.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–12, Chapters 13–19, Chapters 20–25
40 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. foal
    a young horse
    She pointed at the horses and said, “Nokomis, I think one of the Brownies is going to have a foal.”
  2. bluff
    a high steep bank
    As the cart jounced along, Chickadee stared up at the bluff above the river.
  3. assess
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    The bales of fur were weighed, their quality assessed.
  4. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    Antoinette sold seven pairs of embroidered moccasins and eight calico shirts that she’d made on the way.
  5. delicate
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    There were lanterns and lantern oil. Coffeepots. Coffee beans. Tea. Sugar. Flour. Nails. Hammers. Delicate windows. Packets of bright candy.
  6. substance
    material of a particular kind or constitution
    He also had a little bottle filled with a black substance. Uncle Quill dipped his sharpened feather into the ink, and began to scratch it across his paper.
  7. guffaw
    a burst of loud and hearty laughter
    The traders Uncle Quill had been looking at approached the wagon and gave out a huge guffaw.
  8. inspiration
    arousal of the mind to unusual activity or creativity
    Two more traders came over to see what was happening and gawked at the sight of Uncle Quill, who occasionally brushed his forehead with the tip of the feather and looked into the clouds, as if for inspiration.
  9. jostle
    come into rough contact with while moving
    Another trader jostled him, took the paper, and wrote another number down beside Quill’s number.
  10. bale
    a large bundle bound for storage or transport
    There were bags upon bags of flour, sugar, meal, oats. There were tins of tea and jars of red-and-white-striped sticks. Bales of calico and wool, boxes of dried fruit and salted meats.
  11. balmy
    mild and pleasant
    They made huge blurred spears that reached out into the balmy spring darkness.
  12. convey
    serve as a means for expressing something
    Could he ever convey this sight in words?
  13. insatiable
    impossible to fulfill, appease, or gratify
    Everything that the Anishinabeg counted on in life, and loved, was going into this hungry city mouth. This mouth, this city, was wide and insatiable.
  14. intricate
    having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate
    Their moccasins, like those of the men, were beaded with intricate flowers.
  15. bellow
    make a loud noise, as of an animal
    Uncle Quill cried out. The poor oxen bellowed.
  16. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
    The mosquitoes bit through cloth, they bit through hair, they were implacable. Every being suffered.
  17. diminish
    decrease in size, extent, or range
    Eventually, in the heat of the day, a brisk wind rose. The mosquitoes, too light to land in wind, diminished.
  18. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    Nokomis was out foraging for more willow bark.
  19. succumb
    give in, as to overwhelming force, influence, or pressure
    Makoons was slowly improving, but these days it seemed that no sooner did he get over an illness than he succumbed to another one.
  20. tamp
    press down tightly
    The floor was tamped down and then covered with rush mats.
  21. tendril
    slender structure by which some plants attach to an object
    Tendrils of squash and bean vines had begun their searching climb up the poles Nokomis sank near each plant.
  22. canter
    ride at a smooth three-beat gait
    Slowly, Makoons eased into the horse’s stride. Soon, he was cantering along with wonderful ease, his hands caught in Brownie’s flowing mane.
  23. bog
    wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation
    After the mosquitoes, the oxcart train made good time on a level piece of prairie and even managed the difficult part of the road that wound in and out of the woods, through sloughs and alongside quaking bogs.
  24. extricate
    release from entanglement or difficulty
    Both carts sank their wheels right in and could not budge.
    Immediately, men from the other carts came to try to extricate the two carts.
  25. labor
    strive and make an effort to reach a goal
    The carts labored on for some distance, until the way looked clear again and they had caught up to the rest of the train.
  26. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Chickadee heard Babiche say the word bouyah, and he sidled over to his uncle.
  27. coulee
    a seasonally flooded ravine
    The oxcarts ahead were slowly slipping into a coulee, and at the bottom there was a steep incline.
  28. incline
    an elevated geological formation
    The oxcarts ahead were slowly slipping into a coulee, and at the bottom there was a steep incline.
  29. flounder
    move clumsily or struggle to move, as in mud or water
    Down they went, and in no time the carts that floundered at the bottom were aided by the pushing shoulders of the two strong brothers.
  30. circuitous
    deviating from a straight course
    The rest of the train took a circuitous route that took them along a rough, woody trail to avoid the deep, dry streambed.
  31. subside
    wear off or die down
    The shrieks and laughter had subsided.
  32. apparently
    seemingly; as far as one can tell
    Apparently, in the night, everyone had been visited by snakes.
  33. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    He lifted one and two snakes writhed to get out.
  34. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    “Here, my uncle,” said Chickadee, hurrying to grab the moccasins. He shook them out and then his uncle gingerly put his feet into them.
  35. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    “I have always been scared of snakes,” said Uncle Quill sheepishly.
  36. eaves
    the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
    It tore screeching at the planks of the roof. It squeezed between the chinking of the logs in soft whistles. It moaned through the eaves and hissed through the oil-papered windows.
  37. agitate
    cause to be excited or roused
    The wind was noisy and constant. The wind agitated Makoons.
  38. cassock
    a black garment reaching down to the ankles
    “I will say a prayer on my own and hope for your son’s restoration,” said Father Belcourt. He made the sign of the cross and ducked out the door. The wind plucked up his cassock and cloak and blew it around his thin shanks in a wild billow.
  39. shank
    the part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle
    The wind plucked up his cassock and cloak and blew it around his thin shanks in a wild billow.
  40. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    He stayed feverish and listless, and now he was hearing strange things.
Created on Tue May 14 16:26:25 EDT 2024 (updated Wed May 15 13:37:56 EDT 2024)

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